Lost and Found
by xiaoj
Summary: Warning of OOC and Shonen-Ai. Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi were childhood playmates separated and lose contact due to unforeseen circumstances, what would happen when they meet up again during the Shoyo VS Shohoku Match? 1st Slam Dunk Fic, now Revising in Progress! Sequel 'Slam Dunk: Glorious Moments' now Up!
1. Prologue and Chapter 1 - Revised

A/N 1: this is a totally brand new series; it's going to be based on Slam Dunk. But before I go into details on how I'm going to do it, I'm thinking of re-watch the series before writing and I needed time to plan. Therefore this is just a foreword. See you soon!

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

**Prologue**

10 years ago…

The sun shone brightly through the dimly lit room, a red-haired boy about the age of 5 is staring intensely at the tightly closed bedroom door ahead of him. A fore brooding sense of doom loomed over him, as the endless quarrels and fighting of his parents can be heard echoing throughout the house. It seems like the parents' no longer cared whether or not their fights would attract their young son's attention now that it had escalated down to this point of the situation.

The red-haired boy was none other than Sakuragi Hanamichi, his features a unique blend of both his parents. His fiery red hair was inherited from his mother, a typical western woman who yearns for freedom and passion in life. His eyes though was brown, a trait inherited from his native Japanese father.

His parents met in the wonderful city of London, England during one of his father's business trips and his mother's holiday trip overseas. They fell in love with one another at first sight, his father was attracted to his mother's fiery spirit and his mother fell for his father's maturity and gentleman like mannerism. Still, their love didn't last for long… he came into their life soon after they were married and that was when everything went down the hill for his parents' relationship.

His mother, being a westerner could not understand the thinking of his father's traditional opinion of wanting her to stay home full-time to look after him. That was the start of all the endless quarreling between them, Sakuragi Hanamichi believed.

A sigh left the lips of the child as he thought, 'There goes my supposedly carefree childhood days… instead of playing with my friends, I am stuck in the midst of another of their fights…' With a shake of his head, the five year old red-haired boy trudged his way back into his own room.

Glancing about the room, his eyes landed upon a photo frame and could not help but smiled in response. The photo frame held a photo showing two boys, both smiling widely towards the camera screen. It was a photograph of him and his best friend, Fujima Kenji…a boy two years older than him that resided just down the road. That was his first and only friend that he had made in this neighborhood.

The boy in the picture was the only person whom he shared his thoughts and dreams with, his only source of comfort which sheltered him from his unbearable life thus far. However, he knew it won't last for long now, judging from the way these fights are getting from bad to worse... his parents would be getting a divorce before the day is over. That much, he knew enough to gauge.

Although neither of them had mentioned anything of that sort to him just yet, he simply knew it would happen. He had the misfortune to overhear it during one of their fight which took place the previous night, whereby his parents had apparently thought him to be asleep when he was not. He had been busying himself with his nightly routine when he heard a vase crash first followed by his parents yelling and finally, his mother had all but wept and suggested for a divorce to end all of these 'hell' she claimed.

His mother was young, too young…only twenty-five years old whereas his father was in his thirties. The age gap was too big, and their difference in lifestyle and opinions would no doubt put a dent in their relationship sooner or later. His mother's westernized way of thinking would never fits into his father's traditional way of doing things, one of these days everything would fall apart… Hanamichi had often heard his grandparents off his mother's side talking about it whenever they came to visit. Of course, they spoke in English then and while Hanamichi doesn't really understand their words then since it's' too far advanced in vocabulary for him to catch on without troubles…he still managed to get the gist of it all.

Moreover, he has a good memory so much so that he had recited everything he had heard his grandparents telling his mother to his kinder-garden teacher the following day and had the teacher explaining to him the meaning. Of course, that hasn't gone off well either and he felt guilty for it still… as his teacher had probably freaked out on his words and went off to inform his parents of it. When his father caught wind of it, his mother had suffered greatly for the impact of his acts. His father had all but forbid his grandparents to come visit them again, and with his mother's only source of comfort gone from her life… it was no doubt that she had snapped totally and exploded from the never ending stress ever since she had had him.

Sakuragi Hanamichi might have been young, but he was not naive. He knew what a divorce meant; it meant that his parents were going to be separated. After all, this is a pretty common sight especially when one-quarter of his classmates had originated from a single family. It turns out that his prediction had came true after all…because that very night, his mother had came into his room and sat by him for a long time without moving an inch before finally breaking down emotionally in front of him, once again with the wrong impression of him being asleep when in reality, he was only faking it.

One week later, their house was sold. His mother left him alone with his father in Japan while she left for Australia to start her new life whereas his father moves them to a shabby area, renting an apartment with only a room, tiny kitchen and bathroom. They had been staying there ever since then.

Even though his mother had sent him money every year without fail, his father had forbidden him to use it for reasons he could not fathom. As times passes by, he grew up to become defiance and eventually became a gangster. Finally, his father died of a heart attack leaving him alone to his own device. His father's funeral was handled by one of his father's co-worker at work, and his mother never did once appear to show her face. Then again, she probably wasn't even aware of it to begin with…since his father had cut off all contact with her and Hanamichi had no way of contacting her even if he desires to do so. Heck, he didn't even know how to contact his maternal grandparents then. His father had made sure of that.

10 years later…

The time has comes for him to begin his high school journey. After some last minute cramming studies, he managed to get into Shohoku High together with his friends, Mito Yohei and gang. Upon his first day into the new school, he got himself infatuated with one Haruko Akagi and even joins the Shohoku Basketball Team for her sake. When he found out that Haruko likes Rukawa, he even went all out to see Rukawa Kaede as a rival and even nickname the latter as 'kitsune' which meant fox in Japanese. Soon, it will be time for them to play against Shoyo High within the district tournament. However, what he didn't realize at that point of time was that it was in this impending game that he would be playing with…that brings an old friend of his back into his life for good.

TBC…

Chapter 1 - A familiar face.

Fujima Kenji and Hanagata Toru were at the indoor stadium watching a game between Shohoku and Tsukubu, when someone on the court managed to catch his attention.

Standing at a height of 188cm and with that head of bright red hair, Sakuragi Hanamichi is not someone to be missed easily. From the moment, he stepped onto the court he had unintentionally caught the attention of Fujima Kenji, captain and coach of Shoyo Basketball team.

Hanagata Toru peered at his best friend, Fujima closely. He noticed that the latter had an intense look on his face; he caught his gaze and look over to the source which caught Fujima attention and felt nothing but bewilderment.

'What's so special about this red head? Why is Fujima feeling so strongly about him?' Hanagata couldn't help but wonder. At the same time, the same thought keep flashing within Fujima Kenji's mind.

'Could it be? Can it really be him? No…it can't be…but that bright red hair…no one else can have that sort of hair. From what I knew, his hair color was inherited by his mother side of the family as his mother came from Australia.' Fujima Kenji found himself thinking about the same thing over and over again.

Even when the game had come to an end, the same thought keeps on swirling within Fujima Kenji's mind. Irregardless, how he tried to ignore the question… it still ended up coming back to him. As the game against Shohoku neared, he felt his whole mind filled with questions. The feeling is so strong that he almost missed the question made by his friend, Hanagata Toru.

"Ne, Fujima! Did you hear what I said a moment ago?" Hanagata waved his hand in front of Fujima, trying to gain the said teen's attention.

"Eh? What?" Fujima asked as he was startled out of reverie.

"I had been asking you, what time is our practice going to end today? After all, our match against Shohoku is just tomorrow…" Hanagata repeated his question with a hint of exasperation and weariness in his tone of voice.

"Well, I suppose we could end it now. We will need all the rest that we can get." Fujima replied, after snapping back into reality from his thoughts.

On the other hand, Hanagata was in charge of dismissing the team members, while Fujima Kenji found his thoughts going back to one Sakuragi Hanamichi. Later as he lies in bed that night, he continues to ponder on the question. Just before he was about to drift off to the dreamland, it suddenly clicked and everything starts to fall into place in his mind.

'Sakuragi Hanamichi…Hana..! So that's it! It has to be him! Hana is the short form of Hanamichi! Why didn't I think of it before?' His eyes widen as realization drawn in, with the answer out in the open. He felt himself fell into a deep slumber of sleep.

The following day, he woke up feeling refresh and energetic. On his way to the stadium, he only had one thought in mind which is to see how Hanamichi had been faring these few years. He had his mind set on discovering the other life after all these years since they parted.

As soon as the Shohoku members came in, his eyes immediately found his way towards Hanamichi who's basically oblivious to his surrounding. Looking over he found that Hanamichi had been one of the starters five, he brief his teammates for a moment before turning his attention back towards the Shohoku's Team corner.

(A/N: I'm going to skip the match part, since people who watch the anime should know what had happen… so I'm going to go directly to the part after the match.)

TBC…

Date started: 12/09/04

Date completed: 12/09/04

Date edited: 28/2/2013

P.S: Amended the name of the school from Jintsubu to Tsukubu.


	2. Chapter 2 - Revised 28022013

Author's Note 1: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Chapter 2 - the end of the match!

'Thud…Thud…' as the ball landed upon the floor of the court, the whistle blew signaling the end of the match. The Shoyo Basketball Team and Shohoku Team were engulfed in total silence. Eventually, both teams gathered around and stood in a straight line as they shook hands once again.

The Shoyo team broke down in tears as this is the first time ever that they did not make it into the best four and thus losing their chance to challenge against Kainan's Team.

10 minutes later in Shoyo's holding room…

The Shoyo Basketball Team players were sitting down patiently and waiting for their Captain cum Coach Fujima Kenji final instruction to be dismissed for the day. However, they are getting restless. They have been patiently waiting for the past 10 minutes but there was absolutely no reaction from their captain. Sensing the team members' restlessness, Hanagata Toru proceeds towards where his friend Fujima Kenji was with the intention to talk some sense into former. He thought Fujima Kenji's silence had something to do with the losing of the match, when in actuality his friend was just thinking about a certain redhead of Shohoku Team again for the umpteen times that day.

"Ne, Fujima…?!" Hanagata called out but to no avail. There was totally no reaction from their captain figure. Frustrated, Hanagata jabbed Fujima in the ribs hard with his elbow. Feeling the pain, Fujima Kenji turned around and looked at Hanagata weirdly.

"What…?" Hanagata asked as he saw the expression on his friend's face.

"Whatever did you poked me for?" Fujima raised his eyebrow up delicately in response with an inquiry of his own.

Heaving a sigh out aloud in defeat, Hanagata pointed his finger towards where the awaiting team mates were seated and said.

"You are zoning out, and they are waiting for your dismissal notice." The bespectacled teen told his friend, plainly.

Looking over to the direction where Hanagata Toru is pointing, Fujima then realized that he had not dismissed his fellow team players yet. Mumbling an apology under his breath, Fujima Kenji hurried forward and gave out his final instruction for the day; making them to clear up the room before leaving for home. Shaking his head to clear off his thoughts, he turned towards Hanagata and said. "I still have something on today, why don't you go ahead and leave the place first? I'll catch up with you tomorrow in school."

For a moment, Hanagata Toru was pondering on the notion of protesting as his friend wasn't behaving like normal for the whole of today, but he had only taken one look at Fujima's expression before deciding to simply leave his friend alone.

"Alright, fine…" Hanagata eventually shrugged and gave up on the idea of staying behind with his friend, while Fujima Kenji stood in the room unmoving for the next five minutes that follows. Once the five minutes is up, the brunet made a grab for his duffle bag and dashes off towards the direction where he knew the Shohoku Team's holding room was.

(As you all know, the Shohoku players were majority sleeping in the holding room… so how is Fujima going to get to Hanamichi?)

Fujima stopped directly outside the room which Shohoku Team was using as their holding room for the match as he pondered about just how exactly he was going to approach Hanamichi about the subject. For a brief moment, he thought of just dropping the whole issue and turned back towards the direction where he came from but his mind and heart urged him on.

'Well…no harm trying out my luck since I'm already here, otherwise it would be pointless to send Hanagata off – right?' Fujima Kenji reasoned inwardly to himself.

With that resolution in mind, he finally gathered up his wits and courage as he raised his fist up to the door and knocked upon it.

In the holding room…

The Shohoku boys were sleeping like a log; they were so deep in sleep that even if an earthquake were to occur now they would most probably sleep through it all. Then again, the match against Shoyo had tired them out and it was no wonder that the first thing they did upon their arriving back into the holding room was to 'drop dead' on their feet and fell asleep.

At this point of time, Fujima Kenji was standing outside the room knocking on the door. About the same moment of time Sakuragi Hanamichi jerked awake from his slumber, though it was not by the sound of the knocking but the sheer fact that one of his team-mates, the second year point guard Miyagi Ryota had just place his leg on Hanamichi head.

"Ouch..." Letting out a yelp of pain, Sakuragi glared at the sleeping figure of Miyagi Ryota but the notion of shaking the guy awake so to give the former a piece of his mind was left forgotten as he heard the sound of the door being knocked on. Deciding to simply answer the door since he was already up and about, Sakuragi Hanamichi carefully avoided the possibility of stepping on any of the sleeping team mates of his and ventured towards the direction where the door was located.

Even though the temptation to kick a certain fox-liked figure was kind of attractive to him, but that guy was sleeping far too close to 'Gori', his Captain – Akagi for his comfort. Who knew what could have happened if he wakes the 'Gori' up, probably he would be bashed for his deed. Deciding to avoid suffering from another hammering on the head, the redhead decided to leave that 'Kitsune' Rukawa alone for the time-being.

TBC…

What would happen next?

Date started: 25/09/04

Date completed: 03/10/04

Date edited: 28/2/2013


	3. chapter 3 - Revised 01032013

Author's Note : I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now. It never fails to amaze me how short my fic chapters used to be like…

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Chapter 3- Relavations!

Silently and carefully treading among the sleeping figures in the room and making his way to the door at the same time trying not to step on either one of them, Hanamichi muttered under his breath when he almost tripped on a duffle bag bearing the initials of 'R.K'

Damn it…just my bloody luck to be nearly stumbled over something that belongs to that "Kitsune" I must be really unlucky today!' Hanamichi thought, glaring at the bag with venom.

The moment Hanamichi opened the door; he changed his mind about being unlucky. He blinked once then twice, and then he rubbed his eyes hoping that the sight before him was just a dream. He did not just see the Captain of Shoyo's Team standing outside the room, did he? Sakuragi Hanamichi wondered, as he pinched himself to test his theory. Wincing at the pain that shot through his leg, as he had pinched a part of his leg to prove his point…he surmised that Fujima Kenji was indeed standing outside of the door and that his eyes were not playing any tricks on him.

**Fujima's POV**

I took a deep breath as I knocked on the door, a few minutes later I heard mild shuffle of feet and then the door opened. I felt every emotion in my mind as I looked at Hanamichi. However, I felt them drain away as I found him staring at me in utter disbelief. My expression turns from neutral to apprehensive as i suddenly had no idea of what I'm going to say.

**Third person POV**

For a moment, no one spokes. A silence of dread hung in the air, before the figure of Fujima Kenji finally decided to speak up breaking the silence between them.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" The Captain and Coach of Shoyo Basketball Team asked.

"Huh? Why would you want to speak to me?" Hanamichi felt bewildered. He had expected the latter to ask for 'Gori' as that would usually be the case whenever the captain of an opponent team dropped by. So it was rather safe to say that whatever he had been expecting to hear emitting from the lips of Fujima Kenji, the former intention to speak with him was apparently not on his mind and hence his 'stupid' look when he voiced his doubts across to the former.

"I have a few things that I felt the need to clarify with you, personally." Fujima Kenji answered, averting his eyes from Sakuragi so as to prevent himself from losing his nerves altogether.

"Well, I guess it can be done..." Hanamichi responded, and while under normal circumstances he would have laugh out loud at the request and claim that he's indeed a genius to render such a situation for happening. However somehow in this case, his logical mindset had wormed itself up onto the surface of his thoughts and overrides his usual stupid performance of being a clown.

"Thanks, so I assume you are free tomorrow afternoon?" Fujima Kenji questioned, drawing the redhead out from his shell-shock state.

"Well, yeah...I guess..."Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded absent-mindedly, still slightly 'out' from it all.

"So, I'll see you by the cafe near your school then!" Fujima replied with a smile and took off in a good mood, nodding towards one unsuspecting Kogure Kiminobu startling the Vice-Captain of Shohoku so much that the third year student nearly fell as he stumbled in his steps.

Hanamichi stared at the retreating figure as he questioned himself the reason for the Shoyo's Captain odd request. For some reason, he had a weird sensation nagging at him in the very back of his mind, urging him to sift through his childhood memories.

Throughout the journey back home, he had been awfully silent and appearing so deep in thoughts that no one else dared to interrupt his thoughts, fearing of facing his wrath. He maintain his silence over the Shoyo's Captain unusual request, brushing off Kogure's query with some unsuspecting reasoning of the former reason for paying them a visit at the holding room.

TBC…

Date started: 3/12/04

Date completed: 3/12/04

Date revised: 15/12/04

Date edited: 1/3/2013


	4. chapter 4 - Revised 01032013

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Last time on Lost and Found…

_Hanamichi stared at the retreating figure as he questioned himself the reason for the Shoyo's Captain odd request. For some reason, he had a weird sensation nagging at him in the very back of his mind, urging him to sift through his childhood memories. _

_Throughout the journey back home, he had been awfully silent and appearing so deep in thoughts that no one else dared to interrupt his thoughts, fearing of facing his wrath. He maintain his silence over the Shoyo's Captain unusual request, brushing off Kogure's query with some unsuspecting reasoning of the former reason for paying them a visit at the holding room. _

Chapter 4- Memories of a child!

The moment the train door opened, Hanamichi was out of the door before anyone could react. Most of them appeared to be baffled by Hanamichi's strange behavior. Hanamichi dashes out of the station avoiding vehicles on the road, pushing past his own team mates. Even going to the extent of ignoring one Rukawa Kaede remarks of him being an idiot, surprising anyone who knew of his underlying rivalry feel to the stoic teen.

"Hey, what's the mad rush about…Sakuragi?" The redhead could hear his best friend, Mito Yohei of the Sakuragi Squad calling out to him from behind but he could hardly care less for the moment of time. There was only one thing on his mind, and that was to reach home in the shortest time possible.

"…What the hell was going on with Sakuragi?" Takamiya, another member of the Sakuragi Squad questioned Yohei only to receive a shrug in response.

"Who knows…?" Mito Yohei shrugged before frowning at the redhead who is now disappearing down the streets, and then turning his attention back to the rest of the squad members and suggested a trip to the local arcade.

Sakuragi Hanamichi throws the door leading to his apartment unit open with a loud 'bang' before kicking it close with his shoes hind. Immediately after the door was kicked closed, the redhead threw his bag down in a corner of the room and sifted through his drawers for his photo album which he had put away after his parent's divorce years ago.

The photo album had been a constant reminder to him of his friends and family back when his life was full of happiness, when his parents were always around him. Before the divorcing of his parents tore his happiness apart and his father resorting to immense in alcoholism and wasted away the remaining of his life.

He was forced to grow up when he was supposed to be enjoying his childhood days, but with his parents divorcing act…it was impossible for him to remain naive still. His parents asked him of his decision on whom to follow after their divorce, and he felt torn between them. Knowing his mother's intent was to head back to Australia and he had friends here in Japan that he doesn't wish to leave behind, he chose his father.

And when his mother left, he broke down literally into tears because he knew he would have preferred a life with his mother as compared to his father. Still, he thought by remaining in Japan he could still have his friends around him then, but the last straw had been when his father sold off the house and moved him to a shabby town area.

Unable to cope with the hurt he was feeling back then, he had chosen to stash away his childhood photo album which had been full of his happy memories. He had hidden and buried them trying to forget, to drown the memories. At one point of time, he had even contemplated on the idea of burning the album, but somehow deep within his heart he was unwilling to do just that. Hence, he had opted for the option of burying them deep inside his drawer and vowed that unless circumstances deemed it necessary he will not touched it again.

With trembling hands Sakuragi Hanamichi reached for the hidden photo album, his chest tightens as he flipped through the album looking for his childhood playmate's photo. The moment his eyes landed upon the picture containing the two boys with arms slung over each other's shoulders smiling brightly towards the camera, all the suppressed memories from the childhood days came flooding back to his mind. He could practically feel all the joy, pain and laughter shared between them now that the memories were back and overwhelming him to the extent that he had nearly wept in silent tears.

That was when everything, every piece of puzzles began to fell into place; and the realization that his best friend Kenji back in those days had been the very same Fujima Kenji, the current Captain and coach of the 'Shoyo' basketball team who had played him earlier on in the match sets in on him. His world shook as he realized that his friend had remembered him after all these years and had came to him with the proposition of meeting in private, so many emotions rushed upwards to him that thrown him off altogether.

The shock about how Kenji had still remembered him after all these years, and also the feeling of elated joy that Kenji had made the first move by approaching him to meet up in private. Also there was an underlying hint of anger being directed at him-self for not recognizing his childhood friend until now...

Curling himself into a ball at the foot of his futon, Sakuragi Hanamichi cried for the first time after all these years. He hasn't cried when his mother left him for another country, he hasn't cried either when his father died of a heart attack few years back. He never cried when so many girls had rejected him for a date in the process crushing his pride, he definitely hasn't cried a drop of tears when he woke from a nightmare of his father dying. And yet here he was breaking down with tears as he remembered his childhood memories.

It seems to be quite a few moments later, when Sakuragi Hanamichi found himself crying to bed. With the exhaustion of the previous match played against Shoyo High Basketball Team and the sudden onslaught of emotional breakdown, Sakuragi Hanamichi slept through the day like a baby, not even bothering to wake for dinner.

TBC…

Date completed: 19/02/05

Date edited: 1/3/2013


	5. chapter 5 - Revised 01032013

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Lost and Found- Chapter 5

Time passes by swiftly; and soon it was time for basketball practice in the school gym. Sakuragi Hanamichi headed for the locker room and changed into his usual practice attire, his heart hammering against his ribcage as the time towards the meeting with Fujima Kenji draws near.

"Akagi-Senpai, do you think Sakuragi is all right?" Ayako, the team manager asked as she frowned at the redhead's behavior.

Usually, Sakuragi would have tried something ridiculous by now... but this practice seems to be too quiet. Sakuragi Hanamichi was completely out of character, he didn't even make it a point to yell at Rukawa Kaede when the said teen had called him a fool. Neither did he react to Haruko's presence in the school's gym which is considered rather rare for the redhead.

In fact, throughout practice today, Sakuragi Hanamichi was just doing his basic dribbling, shooting and running exercise. He did not even care to joke around with the Sakuragi Squad members; he merely nodded towards their direction and then promptly walks off once the day's practices reached to an end.

On the other hand, Fujima Kenji was already seated down by the window seat in the cafe waiting for Hanamichi's arrival. He had basically skipped out on his last lesson for the day, although he felt bad about it but he could not help it. He hardly doubt he would be able to concentrate on the class with the way he was zoning out at every opportunity he gets, and eventually he decided to simply just leave it to his friend and classmate, Hanagata Toru to think up an appropriate excuse for him. This was after all, his first time at cutting class.

Somehow, he had a feeling that irregardless of the outcome, Hanagata Toru is bound to hound him for an explanation tomorrow morning at their routine basketball practice session.

Fujima Kenji was so deep in thought that when the subject of his distraction – Sakuragi Hanamichi entered the cafe, he didn't even notice. It was not until the moment he heard someone pulling out the chair opposite from him and sat down; did he finally jerked himself back into the reality plane. It was at that point of time that he found his speech ability leaving him, and for that particular reason alone he didn't dare to speak for fear that he'll ended up ruining this meeting between them.

Sakuragi Hanamichi observed Fujima Kenji's behavior from the corner of his eyes; taking in the former tensed posture and the way the older teen was tightening his hold on the coffee mug with interest lurking behind his brown orbs. Anyone with good observation skills would be able to tell that the brunette was a nervous-wreck by this point of time.

'Who would have thought, Fujima Kenji being nervous...' Hanamichi mused inwardly and if he wasn't the reason behind the teen's nerves, he would have laugh out loud by now.

Nonetheless, seeing as he too was equally nervous about this particular meeting of theirs…he figured he was in no position to poke fun at the former nervous state of mind. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to break the dreadful silence and tension which hung between them by making the first move.

Fumbling with his bag for a moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi ignored the feel of eyes upon him as he dug into his bag and pull out an album from within. Dumping the said photo album on the table which separates them with a soft 'thud', it startled the other teen so badly that the student coach of Shoyo High Basketball Team almost dropping his cup of coffee and spilling it in shock.

Paying no heed to the other teen's reaction, Sakuragi Hanamichi flipped through the album carelessly before stopping at one of the page. Sliding the photo album over to Fujima Kenji intentionally while keeping a watchful eye out for the latter's reaction. The redhead masked his expression into one of solemnity while sipping away at his own mug of coffee.

Setting down the cup gingerly upon the sight of the brunet's expression turning into one of frozen shock, Sakuragi Hanamichi crossed his arms in front of his chest area and asked.

"That's you, isn't it?"

Fujima Kenji took a deep breath, and pulled himself together staring right into those familiar brown eyes of the red-haired teen. With a nod, he replied.

"Yes, that was me in the picture…"

The duos maintain eye contact only for a moment before Fujima Kenji shifted his eyes towards one of the trees outside the window. Sakuragi Hanamichi meanwhile let out a breath which he hasn't even realized that he'd been holding in al these while, and stared blankly at a spot behind the other teen. They allowed a silence to hung between them as they both took the moment to recover their speech ability that just seems to desert them yet again for the second time around since their meeting in this particular cafe, this afternoon.

For a moment, no one spoke until Sakuragi Hanamichi mused aloud "It's been so long, I thought I'd forgotten and yet the moment I see you, everything just keep coming back to me."

"Huh…? I beg your pardon?" Fujima Kenji snapped his attention back to the redhead opposite of him when he thought he heard the former uttered something.

"Never mind, I was just musing out loud." Hanamichi answered with a shrug before asking "So, how are you?"

"What do you mean?" Fujima Kenji asked looking quite bewildered by the redhead's inquiry.

"Well... I was just trying to make conversation, in case you are wondering. I mean I had no qualms to just spend the whole afternoon in here staring at you dumbly, you know?" Hanamichi replied, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh... I see..." Fujima Kenji echoed before he launched into a summary consisting of his life over the past ten years and ending with the words - "As for now, I bet you already know that I am studying in Shoyo High and was now playing the role of both the captain and coach for the basketball team. So…what have you been up to over the past ten years or so?"

"Well... you see..." Hanamichi then began to launch into his own life story, pausing in between to look elsewhere before continuing his tale.

Fujima Kenji doesn't blame Hanamichi for taking frequent breaks in between the tale; he knew it had nothing to do with the redhead's attention span. It was just that Fujima Kenji happen to know the topic of Sakuragi Hanamichi's parents being a touchy issue in the redhead's life. Eventually, that dreadful part was over and done with and the redhead was now moving on to the less straining portion of the conversation.

Through the talk, the Captain of Shoyo High Basketball Team had been stunned by the fact that his red-haired friend was only an amateur at Basketball, with a total of less than 3 months experience and yet he had already become one of the starters five in an official game.

"Are you serious…?! You've only played Basketball for three months?" Fujima Kenji stared, gaping at the redhead's words.

"What…? It's true, you know? Almost every game I was fouled out… and initially I only entered the game during the second half. It was only the last game that I was one of the starters five…" Sakuragi Hanamichi responded, matter-of-factly.

"Well…excuse me for not following the whole of Shohoku's matches played in the Inter-high Tournament. For your information, I've only watched the one you guys played against Tsukubu…which just so happen to be the one prior to the game my team played against Shohoku." Fujima Kenji throws out dryly in mock sarcasm, narrowing his eyes at his childhood friend in response. Inwardly, he wondered whether or not should he be insulted that his team was best by an amateur on the court…

TBC…

Date completed: 09/03/05

Date edited: 01/03/2013


	6. chapter 6 - Revised 02032013

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Lost and Found- Chapter 6

Weeks has passes them by since the meeting in the cafe that gotten both Sakuragi Hanamichi and Fujima Kenji reacquainted to one another. Ever since then, the duos had tried their best to fit time in for some meet-ups every now and then. In fact, they had settled quite comfortably into meeting up every Thursday at the same venue for some chilling out session as that particular day of the week just happens to be 'off-day' for their respective school's basketball ball training.

It continues on in that fashion until the routine for the Inter-High Best Four Matches drew near, and it just so happen that Shohoku first opponent would be the Champion for the past sixteen years of the Kanagawa Prefecture Inter-High Tournament – Kainan University Affiliated High School Basketball Team. That was when Hanamichi brought the news along that Shohoku would be training on a daily basis until the Inter-High Best Four Matches were over, and that would probably takes about a month since that's how long the tournament would be running.

Fujima Kenji of course expressed his understanding for the matter and took the news well since he'd been the one to challenge Maki Shinichi from Kainan Team over the past two years for the position of the No.1 Point Guard in Kanagawa Prefecture as well as the Championship for the Inter-High Tournament held on yearly basis. This time around though, it would be Shohoku and Hanamichi turn to do it…to challenge the Champion school for the past sixteen years in the Kanagawa Basketball History.

On the day whereby the first round match was held for the Best Four Teams vying for the two positions to enter the National Tournament that would be taking place in the Summer Season…Fujima Kenji opted out from the chance to watch his red-haired friend in action by going for the Ryonan's match against the other school which he truly believed them to be part of the Best Four Teams for this year only by a stroke of luck.

Considering the fact that Ryonan bested them with a high score of 117 against 78 by the end of the second half…not to forget that the coach of Ryonan had actually substituted the whole team down with bench members by the last ten minutes of the game, and the opposing team still managed to lose another 18 more points to Ryonan High. It just goes to show how weak that particular team that emerged out top winner from the C block was.

The Best Four Teams were basically the winning teams of the four blocks in the Kanagawa Prefecture Inter-High Tournament, and most of the time block D would have the toughest luck among them to win against the seed team. Block A, B, C and D would each have a seed team in them that would only make their debut match in the Best Eight competition that allows them to fight for the Best Four positions. And then, the four schools that emerged out as the winners for each block would be competing against one another to fight for the top two positions so as to gain their tickets into the National Tournament of the High School's Basketball Realm.

Judging from the past few years, teams under Block D would have the toughest luck in terms of competition. This year, it was no difference and Shoyo's luck had runs out when Shohoku enters the picture. On the other hand, Block C has the weakest schools competing in it and it was no wonder that the winner for Block C was still the same old opponent. Apparently, this year their skills deteriorate further as they were bested by Ryonan with a score of 117… when last year they loses against them, the Shoyo team with a score of 102 against 79.

The reason why Fujima Kenji opted to see Ryonan's match instead of Shohoku was unlike what his team-mates had thought it to be. It seems as though that his team-mates were actually worried that he might still be having hard feelings about the notion of losing against Shohoku that Hasegawa had actually volunteered himself and his other two friends, Takano and Nagano to watch the game of Shohoku and Kainan while urging Hanagata Toru and him to go watch the other game instead. Finding the way they were behaving around him rather amusing to witness, Fujima Kenji had decided to play right into their 'cards' and avoid the Shohoku – Kainan match altogether.

That was one week ago though, and the outcome of that match between Shohoku and Kainan was kind of within his expectation too. Still Shohoku was one team that cannot be deducted using typical method; they had been able to play with their best capability and winning the match against them – the Shoyo team by marginal difference. By usual circumstances, their performance against Kainan should be about the same level as how Shoyo had always performed against Kainan. However, Shohoku had done it even better than Shoyo ever did by losing to Kainan by a mere two point difference between both parties.

Now…Fujima Kenji was tossing and turning in bed, he hate to admit but he was having some slight problem with the idea of sleeping. He glanced over to his bedside table where his alarm clock was and realized that it was already 4am in the morning. With a sigh, the brunet tossed his cover off his body and headed down to the kitchen with the intention to get a bite.

However, he almost ended up jumping in fright when he heard the phone rang. Cursing momentarily under his breath, Fujima Kenji went sifting through his memory bank to see if there was anyone he knew that would attempt to call up and risk waking everyone in the house at these ungodly hours of time. A quick scan of the possible candidates in his mind had him decided that it was more than likely a certain redhead ringing him up at this hour of time.

It has been days since the match ended between Shohoku and Kainan, and knowing a certain redhead personality. Sakuragi Hanamichi was more than likely to blame himself for Shohoku's loss; he had after all heard all the finest details from Nagana, Takano and Hasegawa. The three of them whom went for the match had came back with a very detailed recount of that particular match played between both teams, and when they mentioned about how Maki had literally took it upon himself to mark Sakuragi…

Trust Hanamichi to do the impossible, he actually had the audacity to challenge Maki. Then again, Hanamichi was one extraordinary presence on the court… the sheer thought of how that redhead had literally knock his head against the flooring in order to snap himself out from being fouled out was a sight that Fujima would never allow himself to forget.

Truth be told, he wasn't angry that Shohoku had lost to Kainan. Well, perhaps he was a little disappointed since they merely lost to Kainan by two points. Nevertheless, he was not angry at all. In fact, he was feeling quite the opposite - he's proud that they managed to lose only by a mere two point's gap. Shohoku had done their best against Kainan, and had in fact exceeded his expectations in terms of the results.

That much, he knew because when his team challenged Kainan in the inter-high tournament over the previous two years, they'd never come in that close in their game points. They always lose to Kainan by at least five to ten points; henceforth he was rather proud of Shohoku's achievement.

The continuous shrill ringing of the phone jerked the teen out from his reverie then, and reaching for the cordless phone…Fujima Kenji brought it along with him as he entered the kitchen for some snack.

"Hello, Kenji?" Hanamichi asked with some slight uncertainty lurking in the undertones of his voice.

"Yes, this is Kenji speaking. Hanamichi, is that you on the other end of the line?" Fujima replied as he poured himself a glass of milk and settled himself on the dining table.

"Yeah, this is Hanamichi... I was wondering if..." Hanamichi voice faded off as he tried to recall what he wanted to say.

"Yes? I'm still waiting..." Kenji prompted as he poured some cereals into a bowl and started to eat his 'early' breakfast.

"I was wondering if you're coming for our game against Ryonan." Hanamichi asked.

"Yeah... I think so... Is that all? Well, usually no one called me before dawn..." Fujima amended when he realized his reply sounded a little too harsh.

"Erm... well, not exactly... I was hoping you could tutor me on some Mathematics problems I'm facing. The homework is actually due in two hours time, but I'm not even half-done with it." Hanamichi answered sheepishly. If this was a video call, Fujima Kenji could have easily seen one Sakuragi Hanamichi scratching the back of his head with a stupid grin on his face.

"…Where were you now?" Fujima Kenji asked, fearing his red-haired friend's response.

"Actually, I'm already at the crossroads two streets away from your house." Sakuragi Hanamichi responded, meekly.

Fujima Kenji blinked once then twice as he stared at the kitchen clock. Sighing inwardly as he sets his empty dishes into the sink, the brunet teen briefly calculated the time he needed to get to Hanamichi and realized he only have ten minutes to get ready if he wanted to make it over to the redhead in time.

"Tell you what… I'll see you in about ten minute's time over at the 24 hour cafeteria in our old neighborhood. I believe you still remember the way there?" Fujima said as he rushes back into his room and threw his school uniform onto the bed while stuffing his stationery and books into his backpack in a frantic manner.

"Yeah... that's fine. Thanks, I'll see you there in ten minutes." Hanamichi answered as he hanged up the phone.

Five minutes later, Fujima Kenji was all ready and set to go for his tutoring session with the redhead when he suddenly realized he had yet to inform his Vice-Captain for the team as well as his classmate - Hanagata Toru of the slight change of plans this morning. However, it was still too early to be calling up his friend's house and so he had to opt for the alternative.

Leaving a message on a notepad by the kitchen table, he could only hope that his parents will catch sight of it in time and inform Hanagata about the change in schedules. After which, he ran all the way to the cafeteria where Hanamichi was already waiting patiently for his arrival. Normally Hanamichi would required more time to reach the venue, as he was now residing further away from this particular neighborhood but since the redhead was already quite near to the Fujima's residence when he called up... the teen simply told the redhead to head over to the cafeteria and wait for his arrival.

Two hours later, Hanamichi was staring down at his assignment in awe. Shooting Fujima a grateful look, he said wistfully. "How I wish I still live near you..."

"Huh?" Fujima Kenji raised his eyebrow questionably as he heard that statement.

"Well... if I still lived near you, I could always consult you if I don't know anything..." Hanamichi explained when he caught sight of Fujima's questioning eyes.

Fujima seemed to ponder about the matter for a second and then shot back in return with an elegant arch of his brows, "Why not?"

Hanamichi snapped his head up at Fujima's words and blinked stupidly; Fujima caught sight of it and further explained his statement.

"Why not? I mean, we're old time friends and our family knows each other well enough. Heck, we've known each other since we were in diapers and my mother used to baby-sat you when your parents aren't home. I bet my parents wouldn't mind it if you moved in with us, in fact, they adored you. Besides we had more than enough rooms in our house; I bet they won't say much."

"But..." Hanamichi started only to have Fujima silencing him with a stern expression, as the captain of Shoyo basketball team start brainstorming for an excuse to persuade his parents about the latest development.

"Well... I bet they wouldn't mind it much after I explained the matter to them fully. That's it; I'll inform them this evening after school." Fujima Kenji said firmly and in a tone that leaves Sakuragi Hanamichi no room for argument.

Hanamichi stared at Fujima for a moment before letting out a sigh and resigning himself to his fate. He knew the moment Fujima decided something, no one could change his mind about it. He briefly wondered what will happen if any of their team mates got hold of this information, he could already hear the hounding of his best friend Yohei relentless nagging about the issue in the back of his mind. Suppressing a shudder, he shrugged nonchalantly as he packed up his belongings and started to head in the direction of the subway train station whereby he'll need to catch a train to school. Fujima Kenji started in the opposite direction which will take him to Shoyo High.

TBC…

Date completed: 10/03/05

Date edited: 01/03/2013

P.S: Wow… this chapter was major editing work… it gets so long that I need to cut the bottom part of it to Chapter 7, well. That's a good thing though, since the original Chapter 7 was too damn short XD


	7. chapter 7 - Revised 02032013

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Lost and Found- Chapter 7

Shoyo High

Hanagata Toru, the Vice-Captain of the Shoyo Basketball Team was beyond bewilderment as he stared at his friend, Fujima Kenji with unreadable eyes. His friend had literally canceled the team's morning practice earlier in the day without any warning to him in advance, saved for a phone call to his house an hour before the scheduled training hours through the help of his friend's mother – Fujima Miyako.

When he inquired on his friend's reasoning for canceling the practice session, his friend's mother had kindly informed him of Fujima Kenji's absence from the house since 5am that particular morning. What on earth could have possessed his friend to head out so early in the morning?

"What? Toru, is anything the matter?" Fujima shoots a questioning look at his friend, who was now eyeing him with an unreadable expression.

"I thought I should be the one asking you that... since you are the one who cancelled out on me this morning. And then when you arrived in school earlier on in the day, you had practically walked past me without any form of acknowledgement. Furthermore, when I inquired you on your training plans for us pertaining to the winter tournament issue, you chose to give me a half-hearted response. Heck, you didn't even bother to pay attention in class for the first time in your life; as you always seemed to be in deep thoughts. Day-dreaming in class was never your thing, alright? So would you care to explain yourself to me, anytime now?" Hanagata retorted his tone a little too sharp for his liking such that he nearly winced at his own words. Nevertheless, it just goes to show how frustrated he was with his friend's behavior recently, and in particularly – this morning.

"… I apologized. I've been so deep in thoughts that I failed to notice that I'm not behaving appropriately. It's just that I've recently been reunited with a childhood friend of mine, and was a little overwhelmed by all these emotions and feelings that suddenly engulfed me whenever I'm with him. Anyway, to simplify things for you so as to prevent your confusion…I'll just give you a brief summary of what happened that bothers me.

This friend of mine…he used to live in my neighborhood, but he moved away around ten years ago due to some disputes between his parents. In short, his parents' divorced one another and the family sold off the house while he shifted elsewhere with his father who had gained his custody. Anyway, he lost his father some years ago to a heart attack and was currently living in a run-down apartment on his own without much allowance. I've only just discovered this little detail that I felt so bad for him. I was supposed to be his best friend and yet I wasn't even there for him when he needed me. The sheer thought of how he's suffering from poverty while I'm here enjoying life with all the comforts... I just felt so guilty so I was thinking of asking him to move in with me. Scratch that…I actually suggested it and promised him a positive response to the situation. So now, I was actually thinking of how to broach the subject with my parents. I swear I didn't mean to ignore or neglect you on purpose." Fujima Kenji hurried to explain his situation, and was quite apologetic about his earlier treatment of his friend.

"Oh...well, I guess I over-reacted slightly too. I didn't know you had so much on your mind..." Hanagata replied dumbly, not knowing how to react to his friend's sudden confession.

Fujima Kenji had always struck him as the calm and cool figure; this was the first time he had ever seen his friend acting so 'out' of it that he freaked out a little. Frankly speaking, he had no idea how to deal with an emotional Fujima Kenji as he had never really seen how his friend behaves outside of classroom and beyond basketball practice hours.

Hanagata Toru knew that the only reason his friend had been willing to share the information was out from guilt. Apparently, Fujima Kenji had felt bad about withholding certain information away from him whom was supposedly a friend, a close one at that. That and also probably the fact that his friend had knew of his reluctance to let things off the hook without a valid reason, and hence the decision to share some details with him.

Either way through this confrontation, if there was anything Hanagata Toru understood. It would be that whoever the childhood friend his friend was referring to, that person was one that Fujima Kenji held close to heart. After all, it was not a common occurrence for Fujima Kenji to be distracted easily and whoever could achieve that was no ordinary being.

Hanagata Toru was the one other person whom Fujima Kenji had trusted in life, other than the teen's younger siblings and parents. Still, there are things that regardless of how close he was to the brunet…the other teen just won't reveal to his knowledge. However, observant is his middle name and henceforth there are things which he knew about his friend that he didn't comment on either. Among them included his discreet discovery of how his friend, Fujima Kenji, had actually prefers guys over girls as romantic interests.

It was actually kind of funny now as he thought back to the number of times; girls from their school had tried to attract his friend's attention only to fail miserably. There was one time a girl was so clingy that Fujima had snapped and come outright with the information that he was 'gay' during one of the after class tutorial session whereby they have to work together as a group on a class project. Luckily for his friend, the teacher was nowhere near the classroom when it happen although his words did caused the girl to wail and runs off in tears.

After the incident, rumors started to go around about how Fujima and he was a couple. For a while he nearly panicked until his friend confronted him in front of the rest of the team members, and told him to get his mind out of the gutter because he, Hanagata Toru, was simply not Fujima Kenji's cup of tea. When Nagano and Takano attempted to poke their nose into the business, they were send scuttling off with a death glare from Fujima instead.

While Hanagata Toru was musing inwardly to himself, the Captain cum Coach of Shoyo Basketball Team, Fujima Kenji had long fled the school with the intention to rush back home and consult his parents on the idea of allowing Hanamichi to move in with them.

Meanwhile for one Sakuragi Hanamichi…the redhead was trying to ignore all those teasing remarks from his group of close friends dubbed 'Sakuragi Squad' and focused his thoughts on the on his newfound childhood friend, Fujima Kenji of Shoyo High when he noticed it. The lack of the usual heart thumping feel upon the entry of his all time romantic crush – Haruko Akagi's entry into the school gym when he was practicing one of his dunking moves.

Everyone on the team seemed to be surprised by his lack of actions; even he was surprised by the fact. Because under normal circumstances, he would have rush immediately over to the girl and start boasting about his newly acquired skills or whatsoever despite the possibility that he might have ended up missing out on a shot or two while running over to meet his dream-girl. However, this time around not only did he show no outward reaction not even did he miss a shot when Haruko called out to him. He had only glanced over to the girl once and acknowledged the latter's presence with a quick nod of his head.

"What's wrong with him?" Miyamoto, one of Hanamichi's best friend from the squad asked aloud when he noticed the redhead's obvious lack of reaction towards the girl's presence.

"No idea..." the other two from the squad replied while Mito Yohei, a friend who Sakuragi Hanamichi knew from his Junior High years just appeared to be deep in thoughts.

Turning his attention towards Ayako, the basketball team manager… Yohei asked. "Sakuragi... was he always like this?"

Ayako stared at the redhead for a moment before turning to the group of Sakuragi's friends and responded.

"No, not exactly... up until the game before Shoyo, he was behaving his usual ways. I mean behaving like an idiot, but somehow something changes in him after the game played against Shoyo ended. Later on during the game with Kainan, he's more mature although he's still behaving like an idiot and always looking at Haruko whenever possible. But as the week's passes by, he had grown to be more subdued and mature during practice hours regardless of the fact that he still managed to make a fool out of himself when it comes to actual game.

His treatment towards Rukawa Kaede were just like always, with insults passing between them most of the time, and not to forget his tendencies of being disrespectful towards his seniors. However, his attitude towards Haruko-chan had been bordering more on the subdued side and his concentration was better nowadays. I just thought it was because he took it quite hard on himself when we lost to Kainan..." Ayako stopped talking as she continues to watch the self-practice of one Sakuragi Hanamichi.

Sakuragi Hanamichi was struggling with his inner self while he practices his shooting, he briefly wondered what had causes him to act so out of character. This was the first time ever that he had simply dismissed Haruko entrance since he joined the Shohoku Basketball Team. The fluttering feeling that has always been there when he saw Haruko Akagi was diminished. Not only that he actually found himself no longer so obsessed with the idea of his 'love' not been reciprocate by the girl. Heck, he didn't even care about the idea of Rukawa getting all the attention from Haruko.

It was as though his love for Haruko was slowly dying out, but then he still treated Rukawa Kaede as a rival... but somehow it was no longer in the field of love but more in basketball matches itself. The desire to score more points than the latter was still there as he wanted to prove he wasn't weak, and it was true that the insults traded between them still occurred every now and then but they're not as intense when being compared to the time whereby he had first joined the team.

Shaking his head to rid himself of such random thoughts, Sakuragi Hanamichi decided to focus his attention on the practice. With the sheer fact that they are going to face Ryonan off in the match with coach Anzai absence makes him want to do better, and the idea of Fujima Kenji being present to watch him in action just managed to fuel his desire to do better than Rukawa stronger. The sheer thought of his childhood friend brought a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, as Sakuragi leapt into the air and promptly smash another ball into the hoop creating yet another 'dunk' sound in the school's gym.

Fujima Kenji was both nervous and excited at the prospect of living with Hanamichi under the same roof; he looked at the time reflected on his watch for the tenth time in an hour as he started to pace his living room with anxiety. Miyako and Kosuke Fujima looked at each other apprehensively while they watched their eldest son; Kenji stood up from the couch and started pacing about the room.

"Kenji, you are going to wear a hole into the carpet we are standing on if you continue pacing..." Kosuke said as he set his newspaper down on the table.

"Sorry Dad..." Kenji replied apologetically only to remain in his seat for a few minutes before the pacing routine starts up again.

After watching the exchange, Miyako Fujima could only shake her head at her son's antics. She was about to say something when the doorbell finally rang on cue, she heaved a sigh of relief as she watched his son opening the door to reveal a tall red-head standing on the front porch of their house with slight apprehension visible on the features.

"Aa...Finally, Hana-kun... It's been a long time. Do not worry about the rent; feel free to stay as long as you deemed it appropriate." Miyako greeted Hanamichi the moment the redhead was ushered into the living room by her very enthusiastic son, Kenji.

"Oh... thank you..." Sakuragi Hanamichi replied absently as he took in the decorations in the house. Hanamichi was stunned by the fact that the Fujima's hasn't minded his staying in their house and had graciously offered him sheltered for free and over an unlimited period of time. He then surveyed the inside of the house and realized that it hadn't changed much compared to his last visit before his parents' divorced.

Fujima's residence was huge compared to the tiny apartment which Hanamichi used to stay in. The house was fully equipped with a swimming pool in the backyard and a mini-koi pond in their garden at the front of their house near the front gate. It's a three-storey mansion and it's large compared to the other houses located along the street in their district.

Unlike the front of the house, the interior of the mansion itself was decorated much simple and plain. The walls were painted of a creamy white, nothing too striking or too fanciful which suits them just well. Hanamichi followed Kenji up the staircase towards the second storey of the house where all the living quarters were located since the third storey only consists of one attic room which had been used as a storage room for years in the Fujima's household.

They entered a room two doors away from the staircase; the room was painted in a pale shade of blue. A single bed was placed in the right corner of the room right beside the window. The curtain draping for the window is also blue in color, and it was drawn during the days to block out the sunlight. A table equipped with shelves for books was placed in the other side of the room facing the bed, next to it was a wardrobe. The bed sheets and blanket provided for Hanamichi was also a matching shade of blue to go along with the color scheme of the room.

"Is this all?" Kenji asked as he set the last of Hanamichi's luggage at the foot of the bed.

"Huh? Oh... yeah... right, that's the last one. I don't have much since majority of the furniture came with the apartment itself then, so I only had to pack my basic necessities and other random things which I bought either for school purposes or for myself." Hanamichi replied as he checked the luggage brought in by Kenji.

"Oh... so I guess I'll leave you alone to sort out your belongings then. Take your time; I'll call you when it's time for dinner." Kenji announced as he made his way to the door.

"Sure, thanks again for the hospitality." Hanamichi smiled in response.

"No problem, anytime!" Kenji smiled as he closed the bedroom door behind him leaving Hanamichi alone in the room.

Kenji's smile widens at the thought of seeing Hanamichi everyday and the possibility of a relationship forming between them romantically just brighten up the day. A sense of hope fills his heart at the very idea; he smiled happily as he made his way to the kitchen and joined his mother in task of setting the table.

TBC…

Date completed: 13/03/05

Date revised: 07/04/05

Date edited: 02/03/2013

P.S: Major editing again… since I intend to make this the prequel of Slam Dunk: Glorious Moments, I had taken to do some editing on Fujima's family itself. Although, this was ages ago I doubt anyone still remember it but still…I wanted no bugs in the series :D


	8. chapter 8 - Revised 02032013

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Lost and Found- Chapter 8

The whistle sounded signaling the end of the match between Shohoku and Ryonan, Shohoku had finally won due to the contribution of Kogure's 3 point shoot. It was the end of the Kanagawa district tournament, and a mere beginning for the National tournament. Today's match had decided the two teams – Kainan University Affiliated High School Basketball Team and the runner-up, Shohoku High School Basketball Team, the above teams will be representing Kanagawa to enter the National Tournament taking place in the Summer Season in about two weeks time.

Applauses echoed throughout the stadium as the award was been presented to the respective teams, and Rukawa Kaede of Shohoku High was chosen as one of the top five outstanding players in this year's Inter-High Tournament. He was the only first year to be picked out from the whole lot of players for this year's tournament.

Fujima Kenji smiled in response to Shohoku's victory, causing his friend and team-mate Hanagata Toru to look at him strangely for the third time in the same week.

"Fujima... care to enlighten me on the reason behind why you are positively beaming?" Hanagata asked, quirking an eyebrow up in question as he voiced his doubts across to his friend.

Fujima Kenji froze for a moment before recovering from his shell-shock state, was his happiness so obvious to his friend? Resisting the urge to groan aloud in response, the eighteen year old merely coughed twice into his fist up hand and said.

"Well... I'm just glad that Shohoku managed to win against Ryonan. They had after all defeated us and so I thought it should be them that had a chance to go for the Nationals. We have always been seconded to Kainan, and if Shohoku managed to lose to Kainan by marginal points…they would have no reasons to lose against Ryonan, isn't it? Kainan was after all far more challenging then Ryonan, and moreover if they'd lost to Ryonan despite winning against us, our school's name and reputation for being the second best in Kanagawa would be affected, isn't it? " Fujima Kenji reasoned, hoping that his reasoning actually sound logic to his friend.

Fujima answered as calmly as he could manage, but still he couldn't help wincing at the excuse he'd come up with. Hanagata Toru, meanwhile, said nothing but merely lifted his eyebrows skeptically up in response before shrugging and joining the rest of the team for some beverages by the vending machine situated out in the hallway of the indoor stadium.

-Shohoku's holding room-

The team was busy packing up and preparing to head over to the hospital and inform their beloved coach of their victory match against Ryonan High today. Ayako, the team manager, was busy doing some last minute check on the members when she noticed a certain redhead's absence. Turning towards the Captain of the team, Akagi… the curly-haired manager asked.

"Akagi-senpai... do you happen to know where is Sakuragi?"

Akagi, otherwise known as 'Gori' to a certain self-proclaimed genius on the court glances around the room and upon finding no sign of that red-haired idiot, bellowed at the rest of the team members. "WHERE DID THAT IDIOT SAKURAGI WENT?"

Meanwhile, Sakuragi Hanamichi was actually speaking with one Fujima Kenji near the vending machine area where the majority of the Shoyo Team players were gathered around. Therefore, when Akagi's thundering voice was heard echoing down the corridor-way, most of the players' eyes found themselves landing upon the unsuspecting figures of a particular redhead of Shohoku team and their Captain cum Coach, Fujima Kenji.

Sakuragi Hanamichi sighed for a minute before he started to scratch the back of his head in sheepishly and said. "I think I better get back to the team before Gori decided to hound me down and drag me back with him..."

The brunet chuckled lightly before nodding with a reassuring smile as he replied. "Sure, we'll continue the conversation again, tonight."

The redhead said nothing but grinned brightly before making his way back to the holding room where he was more than certain that his team-mates would be busy holding 'Gori' off, except from perhaps Rukawa Kaede. As soon as the figure of Sakuragi Hanamichi disappeared around the corner, Fujima Kenji turned his attention back to his own team members and said in a calming manner.

"Alright, I'm done... we can go now."

If Fujima Kenji was bothered by the bewildered glances being directed his way by his team members, he pretended not to notice them.

'They probably were wondering why I was spending my time talking with Sakuragi Hanamichi of Shohoku... Well, let them wonder then... because I'm not telling anything.' Fujima thought inwardly to himself, all the while maintaining a neutral expression on his face such that no one will knows what he was thinking about.

However, what he failed to notice was that his other best friend – Hanagata Toru had been shooting quizzical glances towards him throughout their journey back to the school while he was immensed deep in his thoughts. Upon reaching the school gate of Shoyo High, several members of the team headed immediately towards the school buildings as they all had their extra lessons to attend to while Hanagata Toru and Fujima Kenji was left standing in front of the school gate doing nothing in particular.

"Toru, I had got something on now... I'll see you around in school tomorrow!" The brunet started after chancing a look at his wristwatch.

Without even bothering to wait around for his friend's response, Fujima Kenji began to jog towards the direction of his home, leaving behind a speechless Hanagata Toru staring in his wake.

Now he was pacing around in the living room, waiting for a certain redhead's return from the visit to the former school team's coach with anxiety. He had decided to confess his feelings for his childhood friend this particular evening, and had specially made it a point to rush home and prepared dinner personally for the event. His parents' were currently away from town at another relative's place, and would only be back by tomorrow evening. His twins' siblings were overseas studying, and so he had the entire house to himself giving him the privacy which he seeks.

As soon as he heard the key turns in the lock, he literally jumps up from his seat and dashes to the door to welcome his favorite redhead home.

"Welcome back, Hana!" Fujima Kenji greeted cheerfully.

"Huh? Thank you..." Hanamichi replied, looking rather bewildered by his friend's sudden warmth welcome.

Fujima Kenji then led the bewildered Sakuragi Hanamichi towards the dining area and sat the redhead down in the seat opposite from his usual one. Gesturing towards the dishes placed on the dining table, the eighteen year old brunet teen said. "These were made especially for your sake..."

Hanamichi's eyes widen at the variety of food present on the table, and then he asked "Really? All these were made especially for me?"

"Yes..." Fujima responded, finding it rather hard to prevent a smile from tugging on his lips as he took in his friend's childlike behavior.

Fujima Kenji observed the redhead's reaction closely from the corner of his eyes, but was shocked when he found tears running down Hanamichi's cheeks. He was just about to panic when he heard his friend whispering the words "Thank you..."over and over again, with unbidden feel of gratitude.

Fujima Kenji heaved a sigh of relief, as he knew now that his friend's tears had nothing to do with being upset but more of it having to deal with being touched by his actions. Settling back down in his seat and continue with the wonderful dinner, the duos started to dig into their food with enthusiasm.

"How is it…?" Fujima could not help but asked.

"This is good; I didn't know you could cook." Sakuragi commented, smiling brightly at his friend.

"Excuse me, I wasn't that much of an idiot…okay?! Home economics does falls under part of the school's curriculum, alright? Besides, I do help my mother occasionally with her cooking task." The eighteen year old huffed in annoyance at the redhead's thoughtless comment.

"Okay…okay, my fault…there's no need for you to flip on me about this." Hurried to put his hands up in a surrendering gesture, Sakuragi Hanamichi started to beg for his friend's forgiveness in his typical dramatic way of expressing his thoughts.

Dinner continues on in the jovial mood, with the duos joking and laughing at one another's antics. Once dinner was over, Fujima made a move to start clearing the dishes away while Sakuragi visited the bathroom. The elder teen was just loading up the dishwasher when he felt arms snaking in from behind around his waist, causing him to gasp in shock and nearly dropped the plates on his hands.

"Hana… what's wrong?" Fujima Kenji asked, after saving the plate from the fate of being dropped with his fast reflexes.

For a while, there was silence and just when he was contemplating on repeating his doubt across to his friend, he heard the distinctive soft voice of Sakuragi Hanamichi responding.

"No, nothing is wrong... I only wanted to thank you for doing all these for me... it's been a long time since I had people doing that for me...and I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a dream..."

"Well... if you want to... I'll cook for you everyday..." Fujima said, with some slight hesitancy evident in his tone of voice.

"Eh? Really, you will do that?" Hanamichi looked at him hopefully, almost causing him to melt under those gaze.

"Yes, I will..." Fujima replied, inwardly wincing at how weak his response actually was to his own ears.

"Thank you!" Hanamichi beamed at him before leaning down to kiss him gently on the forehead.

Even if the kiss was merely a form of showing gratitude on Hanamichi's part, it still makes Fujima Kenji's heart fluttered at the slight gesture. Unable to control his urge, the eighteen year old lifted up his head and kiss Hanamichi on the lips lightly before pulling away and went back to his task of cleaning the utensils.

Silence permeated the air as self-proclaimed genius of Shohoku searched his mind for a possible reason to explain the elder teen's previous actions while Fujima Kenji continue doing the dishes as though he did not just kiss someone on the lips.

"Fujima..." Hanamichi started, while the teen in question paused in mid-actions wondering what was going to happen next.

Without warning, the redhead reached forward and pulled the elder teen in for another session of kisses.

Fujima Kenji could felt his own eyes widening at the younger teen's actions, before surrendering himself when he noticed the serious look in the other boy's eyes. He knew there are bound to be a lot of obstacles and problems encountered along the way of their budding relationship, but he didn't want to think about it just yet.

Pushing all doubts and thoughts to the very back of his mind, Fujima Kenji decided to just enjoy this moment of pleasure and worried about them at a later point of time.

Owari

Date started: 26/03/05

Date completed/revised: 28/04/05

Date edited: 02/03/2013

A/N: Okay, this is it… the ending… the next chapter, I'm going to scrape it or see if I can work anything better like an epilogue or something.


	9. Epilogue - New Chapter, 02032013

Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters. **

Chapter 9 – Epilogue

The budding relationship between one Sakuragi Hanamichi and Fujima Kenji continues to grow and blossom in the dark. They told no one of their actual relationship with one another, although Fujima had a nagging suspicion at the back of his mind that his friend, Hanagata Toru, might already have guessed it.

The reason why they opted to keep things quiet was mainly for two reasons, one of it being not wanting to test his parents' reactions without a fool-proof plan. Who knows how Fujima Kosuke and Miyako would take it if they just dump the bombshell piece of news upon them. They might like the redhead well enough at this point of time, but who is to say the same again once news of their son being involved romantically with the redhead came out into the open? True, the Fujima couple might not have anything against homosexuality but no one could be certain of how their reactions would be like when the one being involved in a homosexual relationship happens to be one of their sons.

Two weeks after Shohoku's victory against Ryonan in the Inter-High, Kanagawa Prefecture Tournament…the recovered Coach Anzai of Shohoku designed a training menu for Sakuragi Hanamichi separately from the rest of the team. Shohoku would be conducting a training camp for the impending National Tournament, and while the rest of the team members would be in the town of Nagasaki training with another school's Basketball Team.

Sakuragi Hanamichi would be training individually in Kanagawa under the scrutiny eyes of Coach Anzai, and the aid of one Haruko Akagi. He was going to be practicing jump shots, and the coach wanted him to practice a total of 20,000 shots in that two weeks time before the Nationals approached. As of current, the skills which Sakuragi Hanamichi possessed on the court include Lay-ups (finger-roll), Rebound, Dunk and also his unique way of doing free-throws (set-shots).

However, just relying on the above skills would not work in the long run and especially so if that is the case in the National level. Thus, Coach Anzai decided to enhance his skills further by getting him to pick up the technique of jump-shots. This began Sakuragi Hanamichi's incessant day and night training of jump shots from all three angles, left, front and right side of the restricted zone on the court.

"Pray tell, where on earth do you think you are going?" Fujima Kenji's voice from behind jolted the redhead out from his reverie.

"Eh… to practice…?" Sakuragi Hanamichi responded, dumbly.

Fujima Kenji felt his eyebrow twitching dangerously, as he fought against the urge to bash his boyfriend on the head. Oh, he knew his boyfriend had a whole load of stamina and strength available for disposal and it was far more than any typical human being out there but still…despite all those points, Sakuragi Hanamichi was only mortal. How could he be thinking about practicing again after being home for like only an hour?

"You're not going; your body needs to recover from its toll from the earlier training. Over-doing your training is hardly advisable; you are just going to have to trust me on this. Now go and get your Mathematics textbook, if you are so free…you might as well study together with me." Fujima Kenji stated in a no-nonsense tone of voice, leaving the redhead no room for argument.

"…" Upon the former words of studying, Sakuragi felt doom looming above his head. Then again, it would not do to try and sway Fujima over with his pleas to practice. The last time he did something like this, his boyfriend had thrown the ball to the back of his head before growling at him not to attempt anything reckless. Fujima Kenji had pulled his coaching card out on him, treating him as though he was one of the first years on Shoyo's Basketball Team, ranting and raving at his stupidity at over-doing his practices.

With a dejected sigh, the sixteen year old red-haired teen trudged over to where his boyfriend stood waiting for his response and set the basketball aside, reaching for his textbook instead. Next, he joined his boyfriend over at the dining table to work on his school's homework in silence. The downside of having a top scholar boyfriend was that he no longer could submit sloppily written homework to the school's teachers anymore, Fujima had taken up the role of being his private tutor and checked over all his answers before he could stashed his homework away.

While his friend may not be acting like 'Gori' on him, bashing him up whenever he failed to answer his homework questions…the former was exceptionally good at guilt-tripping him into putting in effort in his daily school work. All of these made possible simply because he, the ever prodigy in basketball despite being a rookie in this particular aspects, could not bear the thought of disappointing his boyfriend.

Fujima Kenji finally had a chance to witness the improvement in Sakuragi Hanamichi's basketball ability, three days before Shohoku was set to travel out to the town whereby the National Tournament would be taking place. His boyfriend had somehow managed to trap him down with his friend, Hanagata Toru, who was on the way to one of the sportswear store with the request of having a practice match with the Shohoku team.

The practice match was suggested by Sakuragi in a spur of a moment, and then somehow the topic was overheard by a first years from Ryonan High. It then proceeded to become a Shoyo-Ryonan combined team playing against the Shohoku Team. Quite an interesting experience for Fujima Kenji to experience, and he had to prevent himself from laughing aloud at the gob smacked look on his side of the team when Sakuragi Hanamichi scored using his first jump shot ever on the court, during the practice match. The expressions on Toru's and Ryonan players' face were priceless to say, and while he too was stunned by the sight of it. He was kind of expecting it too, overall to say, it was a refreshing experience for him.

"Good luck, Hana…" He murmured softly before turning his attention back to his science homework on hand, his boy-friend was now away for the National Tournament while he was busy prepping up his own team in preparation to the Winter Tournament to come in time.

~The end~

Date started: 2/3/2013

Date completed: 2/3/2013


End file.
